Tyson Fury’s loss could be a gain for Deontay Wilder as the possibility of a title challenge against Oleksandr Usyk opens up.
Usyk walked away from Fury talks following a series of unrealistic demands, leading to ESPN’s Timothy Bradley accusing “The Gypsy King” of ducking.
Tyson Fury ducked Oleksandr Usyk
“[Tyson] Fury is the one to blame. I’m sick of the mess,” said Bradley. “I call this a legitimate duck by Fury.
“He’s ducking Usyk. He didn’t think Usyk was going to take the seventy-thirty split. The goalposts got moved again. They kept getting moved,” added the former two-weight world champion.
Usyk’s handler Alexandr Krassyuk was losing his mind over how the Fury negotiations went from one hundred to zero in record time.
The Ukrainian didn’t mind letting the public know who was at fault for the collapse of an undisputed heavyweight title fight.
“The reason for that is it went too far. There was a feeling that after Usyk accepted seventy-thirty, Tyson Fury started thinking that he could put a saddle around his neck and start riding Usyk as much as he could,” he told talkSPORT.
“It’s not right. I mean, Usyk accepted the seventy-thirty split as a courtesy. He was so loyal. He was so willing to make this fight happen.
“But the fight isn’t about Tyson Fury. The fight is about the pending WBC belt in his collection.”
On Fury continually altering his demands, Krassyuk added: “Tyson tries to avoid it by putting many obstacles in front while making the deal. Then there’s no need to put more effort in, and we go our way.”
He outlined Usyk’s intent to pursue the WBC championship in the future: “The only thing that stays in my mind, we can claim very clearly that undisputed remains our highest priority.
“We will do our best to make it happen in the shortest period. Whoever is the temporary holder of the WBC belt, we will try to make it happen.”
Usyk vs Deontay Wilder
For now, Usyk has a lot on his plate. Three top division mandatories are due, along with interest from Deontay Wilder in sealing a mammoth battle.
If Usyk and Krassyuk can persuade one or two of the sanctioning bodies to allow the Wilder fight to happen, they could get a green light.
Speaking in Las Vegas at the David Benavidez vs Caleb Plant fight, Wilder confirmed his interest after discussing the fallout of Fury vs Usyk.
“This is the business of boxing; it’s a very difficult business. For me, the business of boxing is one of the most difficult businesses to be in.
“It has no structure so that it can go any way,” Wilder stated.
“It has so many loopholes, tunnels, and avenues it can travel. So it’s not a surprise to me that it fell apart like that.
“Just like many other fights before. So we can’t be surprised at this because we’ve seen so many of the best fights that we think would have happened but didn’t happen and fall apart.
“So, a fight isn’t final for me until you get in the ring and the bell goes ding.”
In addition, asked if he can comment on any ongoing talks with Usyk, Wilder added: “I’m not allowed to say.”
Usyk vs Wilder is a more intriguing fight against two boxers more evenly matched in weight.
A top boxer against the hardest hitter ever. Bring, It. On.
